Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

I first met Mitsouko during the winter of 1983. I was a 16 year old schoolgirl, working behind the perfume counter at Boots to earn money for riding lessons, and she was a beautiful Japanese woman who had no business frequenting an ugly shopping centre in Lewisham. From the moment I sniffed her beautiful, peachy aroma, I was entranced.
Admittedly, it was cheerful Diorissimo that became my first perfume purchase, but so taken was I with Mitsouko that she quickly supplanted Diorissimo in my affections, and accompanied me to university.
Back then I wore scent only for special occassions, and it was always Mitsouko I turned to. Mitsouko was my signature scent, and I was surprised to discover that she had been my mother's signature scent when she was young.
But my life changed, and in 1993, I felt like a change too. I was now onto my second bottle of Mitsouko - the parfume, this time - but found I was falling out of love with her. She had changed, and I wasn't enamoured with that change. Angel had just found her way to Britain, and quickly usurped Mitsouko's throne. She was young and fresh and different, and I fell head over heels for her.
But I soon found out that Angel was rather freer with her affections than dear Mitsouko. My best friend took a liking to her, and soon purchased the entire range, just as I had done. This soured me to Angel rather. I loved the scent, but I smelled her everywhere. How could she become my one and only when she was so promiscuous?
I flirted with other scents over the years. I discovered Basenotes, and a whole world of niche fragrances. I became promiscuous myself.
Mitsouko gathered dust in the back of my cupboard. Sometimes I took out the small bottle and applied her to my skin. Occassionally she delighted me, but sometimes she disgusted me too. Perhaps she had aged, and had become cantankerous and moody. Perhaps we had been together so long that we argued like an old married couple.
And then the little bottle ran dry. Should I replace her, I wondered? Or should I move on?
My decision was made for me, in Harrods Haute Parfumerie. I had gone there with the intention of purchasing Narcisse Noir, but they had run out. Mitsouko beckoned. They had the parfum, and though I nearly fainted at the price, I gritted my teeth and paid.
I had heard of the reformulations, and was concerned, but concern soon turned to delight when I applied her to my skin. She was as hauntingly beautiful as when I first encountered her at the tender age of 16. Warm, peachy, woody, nutty. She has become a favourite again. Perhaps no longer my signature scent, but queen of my harem. Welcome back, sweet concubine; you will always have a place in my heart.

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

I sprayed a little Mitsouko on the backs of my hands last night just before I went to bed. I wanted to give her another try. And I don't know whether it's my bottle or what, but it just smells 'off' to me. Like it's been languishing in a cupboard at the wrong temperature for a couple of decades too long, and something in it, just one ingredient, has gone sour. And then, at times, I would catch a whiff of it, and think 'it's not so bad after all'. I have no idea why I can't get on with this fragrance. I really wish I could. Maybe what I have is the reformulation, and this is why it smells 'off'. Or maybe the bottle I have isn't even a genuine bottle (I did buy it on ebay after all). I have absolutely no idea. But I'm not willing to give up just yet. I will keep having a go with this one, because I love chypres, and Mitsouko is supposedly the Queen of the Chypres. So it's me, right? It can't be the perfume.

(Seriously though, I'd never try this hard with any other fragrance - I either like it or I don't, and I won't waste my time. Again, I don't know why I keep trying with Mitsouko)

"I don't know the key to success,
but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
Bill Cosby

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

What a nice tale of dallyance and loyalty.
I think many people will go through this same procedure with Mitsouko.
She doesn't give freely of herself. She is austere. But she is unique, and thus she will call you back (even if you are unwilling.)
Glad you got the parfum. It's the best concentration by far.
Have a peachy relationship.

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

What an intriguing story and a wonderful way to get back to a lovely classic scent. Personally, Mits is one of my favorites, and I agree with purplebird that the parfum is in a class of it's own. I would suggest everyone having a hard time with it to sample the parfum before making a final decision. It's really gorgeous!

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

What a heart-felt write up on Mitsouko! That's her, no doubt about it: she plays tricks and she tries to run away, but she always comes home at the end of the day. Can't be together and living apart makes it even worse!

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

I loved reading this Indiscreet, and it rings so true, having gone through my own ups and downs in my love hate history with Mitsouko. And Angel is a perfect foil to her mysterious qualities.

She is my First Scent of the New Year. My hoard of vintage parfum is dwindling, I will have to make a decision this year to buy a new bottle....

"Like a lobster with a pearl in its claw, the beet held the jasmine firmly without crushing or obscuring it. Beet lifted jasmine, the way a bullnecked partner lifts a ballerina, and the pair came on stage on citron's fluty cue. As if jasmine were a collection of beautiful paintings, beet hung it in the galleries of the nose, insured it against fire or theft, threw a party to celebrate it. Citron mailed the invitations." Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins p. 189

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

I finally got to smell Mitsouko EDP. Now I get it! NOW I know what you're talking about. There is just no comparison between the sharp, stale-smelling EDT that I have and the gorgeous, divine, strong-yet-gentle, mysterious and utterly compelling EDP.

I truly, truly get it now. Which means I'm probably going to have to find the money to buy this in EDP and dump the EDT down the loo or something.

Please can someone explain to me what Mitsouko Habit De Fete Perfume is? I've never come across that before.

"I don't know the key to success,
but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
Bill Cosby

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

Originally Posted by Kyra

Habit de Fete is just one of Guerlain's packagings- I think the gold atomizer with the holes in it. And don't dump it- pass it on!

Oh, I shall. :-) And if the Habit de Fete is just a packaging thing, then I know I can afford to get a small bottle of the EDP. Thanks so much for sending that sample - it really opened my... er...nose.

"I don't know the key to success,
but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
Bill Cosby

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

Thanks a lot for sharing your story, i really liked it.
For me, the mitsouko thing is always puzzling, sometimes i like it, sometimes i don't, and that seems to be the case for it ever since i first got it. I do believe the difference between the various presentations, edt, edp and parfum are vastly deep, and even if they all have that guerlain feel to it, and they all smell like they come from the same family, but i also i feel they are just different scents altogether.
And with the many reformulations, i also feel we got many different scents that share the same name.

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

I wore the EDT yesterday, which is all I have now, and I must admit that I am saving my pennies for the parfum. The new EDT has a bit of a nasty disinfectant smell that passes after about half an hour, leaving a Mitsouko-like drydown which at least on me lasts all day. I haven't had the perfume in over twenty years but I don't remember any of that off-scent in it.

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

Don't worry, Vezerne - the current formulation of the perfume is still fantastic (better than my last bottle...though it may just be that I'd had it so long it had gone a little off). No disinfectant at all.

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

What a lyrical ode to the lady! I never met Mitsouko before her reformulation, I'm just a pup when it comes to perfume. Perhaps as befits a new affair we fight almost daily, but with such rewarding moments of reconciliation...

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

Mitsouko is, and always will be, my number one. I have several concentrations (sometimes in multiples), and never tire of it.

Although people often compare other scents to it as a reference, I've yet to smell anything comparable. I think the true versatility lies in its genderless approach. Just fruity enough to make it interesting for a man, and just mossy enough to make it interesting for a woman.

Re: Mitsouko: rekindling a love affair

I opened a book today and found that I had marked a page with a card sprayed with Mitsouko EDP. It has been at least a year, and it still smells lovely...like a musky peach skin. I had the EDP a while back and while I adored it sprayed on my clothes, if it hit my skin, what I think was the vetiver smelled so bitter and burnt. Has anyone else had this experience? I am seriously considering buying the EDT online just to see if she will work for me. I am usually an EDP gal, as I eat up fragrance and love sillage, but Mitsouko is being so ellusive...

~Grenouille knew for certain that unless he possesed this scent, his life would have no meaning.~
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